Britain’s Prince Charles has met with Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman and the new Crown Prince Muqrin on a tour of the Middle East – as he came under strong pressure to raise human rights concerns, including the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi.

Badawi, 31, a Saudi
activist and blogger, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and
1,000 lashes. He was also ordered to pay 1 million Saudi riyals
(£160,000) for setting up the Saudi Arabian Free Liberals
Forum.

King Salman, 79, is thought to be more conservative than his
predecessor, his half-brother King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who
died in January.

Amnesty International’s UK director, Kate Allen, said: “We
don’t expect Prince Charles to give up the red carpets and state
banquets and become a human rights campaigner, but as a man who
knows the Middle East well we hope that he will use the visit to
pass on a few well-chosen words to his royal hosts.”

“We still need the UK government to do more on Raif's case,
but Charles's diplomatic intercession could help to secure this
man's freedom,” she added.

Simon Collis, British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, also said the
prince’s personal relationships with the Saudi royal family could
make a difference.

“The importance of the royal family in this country means
royal to royal links are of particular value,” he told The
Telegraph. “These kinds of visit are capable of having an
impact.”

Collis added that he did not know whether Prince Charles would
discuss Badawi or human rights issues at the meeting.

“We have serious concerns about the Badawi case. We have
raised that – it was raised by the Foreign Secretary with the
Saudi ambassador recently. The Prince will be the judge of what
he raises and how and when he raises it.”

Prince Charles and Prime Minister David Cameron were criticized
last month after visiting Saudi Arabia to pay their respects
following the death of 90-year-old King Abdullah.

The decision to fly flags at half-mast at Westminster Abbey and
other UK government buildings also drew criticism.

Many in the British establishment hailed King Abdullah as a
reformer who pushed for more women’s rights. Human rights groups,
however, have described the late king as a tyrant who quashed
democratic movements.

Saudi Arabia executed at least 68 people between January and
November 2014, according to Human Rights Watch. Four people were
executed in less than a week of King Salman assuming power.

In January, a Burmese woman was beheaded after being dragged
through the streets and held down by four police officers as she
screamed: “I did not kill.”

She had been convicted of the sexual abuse and murder of her
seven-year-old stepdaughter.

In 2014, a 24-year-old Saudi Arabian man was sentenced to three
years in jail and 450 lashes after he was caught using Twitter to
arrange dates with other men. A court in Medina had found him
guilty of “promoting the vice and practice of
homosexuality.”

In December, reports emerged of two women facing trial in a
special court for terrorism after they broke the female driving
ban.

During his six-day Middle East tour, Prince Charles has already
held bilateral talks with Jordan's King Abdullah and met with
Christian refugees from Iraq at the British ambassador's
residence in Amman.